Unit 5: Learning

Topic: Operant Conditioning

Edward THORNDIKE

• Proposed the “Law of Effect” – behaviors followed by favorable outcomes are more likely

• conducted puzzle box experiments on cats

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Comparing Classical Conditioning & Operant Conditioning

•  The learner does not have a choice

•  The learner has a choice

B.F. SKINNER •  Most significant name in behaviorism

(behavior is controlled by reinforcement, not your unconscious)

•  Research on operant conditioning –

external influences control behavior •  Creator of the operant chamber (Skinner

Box)

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B.F. = (Burrhus Frederic )

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Pigeon ping-pong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGazyH6fQQ4)

Schedules of Reinforcement (pigeon pecking behavior)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rst7dIQ4hL8)

Training a puppy to roll over (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLoHH03QAAI)

Reinforcement •  All Reinforcement

INCREASES THE LIKELYHOOD that a particular behavior will occur.

•  Positive Reinforcement:

encourages a certain behavior by offering a positive stimulus (reward).

I _______

Negative Reinforcement (and so do you!)

Negative Reinforcement IS NOT Punishment

•  Negative Reinforcement also ENCOURAGES a particular behavior by removing an aversive (negative) stimulus.

•  Punishment: DISCOURAGES a particular behavior by usually adding an aversive stimulus.

Primary vs. Conditioned Reinforcers Primary Conditioned

Innately satisfying UNLEARNED

Satisfying because they are associated with a primary reinforcer

LEARNED

food

water

sex

Affiliation (family and friends)

Removal of pain

???

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Types of Reinforcement •  Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the

desired behavior everytime it occurs. – Learning happens very quickly. – Extinction happens very quickly if

reinforcement is stopped.

•  Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement: reinforcing a desired behavior only part of the time. – Learning takes longer (slower acquisition) – TAKES LONGER for extinction to occur.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Reinforcement always occurs after a fixed number of operant responses

Fixed-ratio

A factory worker may be paid $1 for every 3 T-shirts he makes.

= $1

Schedules of Reinforcement

Reinforcement usually occurs after a certain number of operant responses

Variable-ratio

A gambler might win the jackpot after just one pull of the slot machine, or after 52 pulls, or after 2,397 pulls.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Reinforcement always occurs after a fixed amount of time has passed

Fixed-interval

A factory worker may be paid $1 for every 3 hours she works.

= $1

Schedules of Reinforcement

Reinforcement usually occurs after a certain amount of time has passed

Variable-interval

A person on parole may be given a random drug test. He/she has no idea when they will be asked for a urine specimen. It could be next week, or a month from now, or several months from now.

The next drug test will be: ?????????

Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcement*

•  In rats, if you delay reinforcement, virtually no learning will occur.

•  Although humans do recognize delayed

reinforcement, immediate gratification sometimes move us into risky behavior. EX: smoking, drinking, unprotected sex.

Skinner Box (a.k.a. “operant chamber”)

Skinner tried unsuccessfully to market and sell the operant chamber to parents under the names “Heir conditioner,” “Air crib” and “Baby tender”

Shaping* •  Shaping refers to an

operant conditioning technique in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards a desired goal. – Uses successive

approximations.

How would you have trained this cat to

become potty trained?

(Meet the Parents Clip – Psych in Film)

Shaping a dog's behavior (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhmONAl6Yiw)

Shaping pigeon turning behavior (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2553303748235370516)

Behaviorist vs Cognitivist Theories

Behaviorist: Only cares about behavior – what a person does – what can be observed or proven Learning is mechanical – you behave the way you do because of external stimuli – no internal processes are required (learning by thinking about something or watching it)

Cogntivist: Care about what a person knows (instead of does).

Learning serves a purpose. You can learn by watching or thinking about something.

Cognition’s Effect on Operant Conditioning

Cognitive map: a mental representation of one’s environment that is developed without the aid of reinforcement.

Latent learning: learning that occurs (like cognitive map) that is

not apparent (hidden) until there is an incentive to justify it. Ex: rats that were not reinforced while in a maze could navigate it just as fast when there was a reward put at the end. If there was no food at the end, they just roamed through the maze (they were in no rush to get to the end).

Unit 5: Learning

Topic: Social Theories of Learning

Albert BANDURA

• Researched social theories of learning (a.k.a. observational learning or modeling)

• Conducted the famous “Bobo the clown” experiment

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Albert Bandura’s Experiment on Modeling (Bobo Doll Experiment)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr0OTCVtHbU&feature=related)

•  Experiment that showed children could easily learn aggression through observational learning modeling.

•  Frustrated children go to beat on clown after seeing adult model do the same.

•  After a variety of experiments, many consider Bandura to be the father of social learning theory.

Social Learning Theory: Monkey See, Monkey Do (Observational Learning)

•  Observational learning describes process of learning by observing others.

•  Modeling is an example of observational learning by which we imitate a specific behavior.

Observational Learning/Modeling Theory Leads to Questions About the

Impact of Television on Viewers

Wolfgang KOHLER

• Insight learning. Argued that animals do not simply learn through trial and error but from insight learning (a.k.a. the “aha!” moment)

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Kohler’s Experiment

PROBLEM: Food has been placed beyond the reach of the chimps, outside a closed pen.

1.  failure 2. pause

3. look at the potential tools

4. the attempt

The chimps behavior all seemed to follow a similar pattern that suggested to Kohler that the chimps

were demonstrating insight and planning

the chimp jumps fruitlessly at bananas that have been hung out of reach

after a period of unsuccessful jumping, the chimp apparently becomes angry or frustrated, walks away in seeming disgust, pauses

the chimp looks at the food in what might be a more reflective way, then at the toys in the enclosure, then back at the food, and then at the toys again.

the animal begins to use the toys to get at the food

Insight is also know as an “Aha! Moment” or “Lightbulb Moment”